Filed under: Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Daniel Johnston, Is and Always Was, Union Chapel
Daniel Johnston in Union Chapel
VIEW: Photo Gallery under the jump
Check out exclusive 20 Watts photos of Daniel Johnston live from Union Chapel in London, UK. Sporting a dirty jersey, sweatshirt and grey sweatpants, Johnston was shaking for most of the concert. He played a mixture of older songs like “Casper the Friendly Ghost” and “Speeding Motorcycle,” along with a few selections from his latest album (Review here). The performance included three Beatles covers.
“We do a lot of Beatles covers,” commented Johnston, recalling his major coming-of-age influences. According to our source “he messed up the lyrics of ‘Revolution,’ but didn’t seem too phased.” Bouncing rapidly back in true Johnston fashion, he certainly mesmerized the audience. Returning for an encore after the crowds raging demand. Johnston finished the show with a performance of his song “True Love Will Find You in the End.”
– Photos by David Miller
– Copy by Irina Dvalidze
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Do You Realize??, Embryonic, Kid A, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Wayne Coyne
The Flaming Lips' Embryonic
WE GIVE IT: 15/20 Watts
MEDIA: Check out our Flaming Lips PODCAST
Throughout their long, illustrious career, The Flaming Lips have turned in effort after effort that, if not for a lack of U.S. commercial appeal, could have paved their way as standard-bearers in alternative rock. From the 1999 watershed album The Soft Bulletin to 2002’s fan-favorite, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the band has done one thing phenomenally well over the years: Keep the critics happy.
Enter 2009’s Embryonic, the album that could, depending on whom you ask, keep that streak of magazine success alive. After three years of hard work, Wayne Coyne and company unleash a flurry of sound and experimentation on Embryonic, the likes of which have never been witnessed from them — or any band this side of Radiohead, for that matter. Embryonic is a character apart in The Flaming Lips’ discography, and that simple fact will cause critics to either praise it immediately or decry it across the board. (more…)
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn-Queens-Expressway, Fifty States Project, next Wave Festival, sufjan stevens
Sufjan Stevens' The BQE
WE GIVE IT: 17/20 Watts
Whether you choose to acknowledge Sufjan Stevens’ The BQE as part of his Fifty States Project or not is up to you. Regardless, you can’t deny how well the instrumental collection — and Stevens’ first symphony — captures the aesthetic of one of New York City’s most notable thoroughfares.
In fact, as adventurous as Stevens has been throughout his career, this project may well end up being the folk multi-instrumentalist’s masterpiece as an artist. Not only is The BQE its own album — complete with a full 36-piece orchestra — it’s also a film, a booklet and a Viewmaster reel. The entire project, written and directed by Stevens himself, was originally commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music for its 2007 Next Wave Festival; both the film footage and the audio recording date from that performance. (more…)
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Alan Palomo, Neon Indian, Super Mario
Neon Indian's Psychic Chasms
WE GIVE IT: 16/20 Watts
MEDIA: Check out our Neon Indian PODCAST
Listening to Neon Indian’s debut album Psychic Chasms is kind of like dancing disco in a video game, circa 1985. Trust us when we say this is exactly how you’ll feel while taking in this album’s mix of old-school computer samples, punchy bass lines and 21-year-old, Texas-bred Alan Palomo’s — a.k.a. Neon Indian’s — silky vocals.
Although this album is far from dance-party material — the overall tempo is far too slow — tracks like “Deadbeat Summer” capture the spirit of disco-era grooves, but in a totally distorted fashion. The song starts off with an itchy synth line that soon interweaves itself with gritty guitar work and samples that sound straight out of Super Mario. (more…)
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Animal Collective, Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox, Deerhunter, Laetitia Sadiera, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel, Logos, Mediafire, Microcastle, Noah Lennox, Panda Bear, Stereolab, The Dovers, Weird Era Cont.
Atlas Sound's Logos
WE GIVE IT: 15/20 Watts
MEDIA: Check out our Atlas Sound PODCAST
Last August, Bradford Cox (Atlas Sound, Deerhunter) accidentally released an unfinished version of Logos on his Mediafire account. He debated scrapping the project altogether after the unintentional leak, cursing the interwebs with “fuck this shit. I can just make another album. It’s not finished and now it never will be.”
It’s safe to assume that Cox has since forgiven us — he did, after all, complete this album. Now the question becomes whether diehard fans will forgive him for the major style changes on this LP. (more…)
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Daniel Johnston, Is and Always Was, The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston's Is and Always Was
WE GIVE IT: 15/20 Watts
MEDIA: Check out our Daniel Johnston PODCAST
In the early 1980s, a gangly, bloody youth stumbled into a church in Austin, Texas, looking for medical assistance. A few months prior, he had bought a moped, run away from home and joined a carnival — before a hulking carnie beat him up and left him for dead.
Such is the life of Daniel Johnston, the bipolar, cassette-wielding, “outsider” musician who has been ignoring lyrical and musical conventions since the early ‘80s. (more…)
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Embryonic, The Flaming Lips
WE GIVE IT: 15/20 Watts
REVIEW: Read our full review HERE
The Flaming Lips Embryonic abandons the band’s usual sense of melody and composition, instead creating a sound completely contingent on loud, discordant walls of noise. In this podcast, 20 Watts’ John Cassillo discusses the album and how it’s revolutionized the Flaming Lips’ discography. Read John’s full review here.
– John Cassillo and Irina Dvalidze
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Neon Indian, Psychic Chasms
WE GIVE IT: 14/20 Watts
REVIEW: Read our full review HERE
At only 21 years of age, Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo is the man behind the trippy, nostalgic psychedelia that fills Psychic Chasms. In this podcast, 20 Watts’ Alex Kish discusses the album and what we can expect from Palomo in the future. Read Alex’s full review here.
– Alex Kish and Irina Dvalidze
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Reviews | Tags: Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox, Deerhunter, Logos
WE GIVE IT: 17/20
REVIEW: Read our full review HERE
Atlas Sound’s Bradford Cox (Deerhunter) decided to release Logos a year after its premature, accidental leak. In this podcast, 20 Watts’ Ryan McManus discusses the album and how it diverges from Cox’s previous work. Read Ryan’s full review here.
– Ryan McManus and Irina Dvalidze
WE GIVE IT: 15/20 Watts
REVIEW: Read our full review HERE
Daniel Johnston — literally indie-rock’s resident madman — steps production up tenfold on Is and Always Was, his first release in six years. In this podcast, 20 Watts’ Eric Vilas-Boas discusses the album and what it means for Johnston’s work. Read Eric’s full review here.
– Eric Vilas-Boas and Irina Dvalidze
